The Legacy Architectural Salvage in Wilmington is a treasure house that does not know many centuries of history. 

In its warehouse behind Stevens Ace Hardware on Dawson Street, there are rows of historic wooden window frames with the original glass intact. Door back door.

There is a beautiful 19th-century grand piano stacked with old wood: the still solid floor, roof beams and other parts, most of which are made from the heart pine wood that began to grow as a sapling hundreds of years ago. 

"I like salvaging. I come from a family of pickers and hoarders," joked Deb Helms, who manages the salvage of the heritage building for the historic Wilmington Foundation, which was based on the Greensboro Building in 2015. The business model started this branch. 

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For the latest episode of StarNews’ local history podcast Cape Fear Unearthed, I sat down with Helms; her husband Don is one of dozens of volunteers for the non-profit organization; and assistant manager Kelly Helms. We talked about their way of preserving history, one window at a time. 

Since its establishment six years ago, Legacy Architectural Salvage has become a destination for contractors and do-it-yourselfers, all looking for a small piece of history that they can’t find anywhere else.

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Legacy derives materials from historic buildings—everything before 1960—for various reasons, including degradation and lack of legal protection, these buildings cannot be preserved. 

The most recent "deconstruction" brought Legacy to Shandy Hall near the Greenville Loop in Wilmington. Despite the best efforts of the historic Wilmington Foundation, it was still unable to preserve historical property, some of which are believed to date back to the 1880s or earlier. 

Part of it still exists in Legacy, including an old wooden support bracket with a sharpened nail to fix it. Don Helms said that when he pulled out that nail, he might be the first person to touch it in more than 100 years.

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He was poetic about some of the old pine trees they owned, including a huge beam measuring 8 x 8 inches and 38 feet long. 

"They don't even grind wood that big anymore," he said. 

They ventured to Warsaw in Duplein County and even as far as Raleigh to purchase, but most of the contents in the warehouse came from the Wilmington area.

Deb Helms said that people often come to them with a truckload of things, and when someone stops, "we never know what we will get." Sometimes it's something they can't use, but sometimes people bring treasures, Assistant Manager Kelly Hurst said, pointing to a beautiful towering mantel donated to Legacy. 

They even have some "resident artists" who use historical materials (including mirrors and other objects) to make upgraded home decorations and decorations. 

If you haven't been to Legacy Architectural Salvage, two good times are the small business Saturday sale on Thanksgiving weekend and the annual holiday market on December 4.

Call 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com to contact John Staton. 

Time: Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm, Thursday from 9 am to 5 pm

Location: 1831-B Dawson St., Wilmington, behind Stevens Ace Hardware

Information: The holiday market is open from 9 am to 2 pm on December 4th. You can also participate in the Small Business Saturday Sale on November 27th.